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Presented  to  the  Members  of  the  Fifteenth  International  Congress  of 
Americanists  with  the  Compliments  of  the  Authors 


RECENT  CAVE  EXPLORATION  IN 
CALIFORNIA 


BY 


JOHN  C.  MERRIAM 


EVIDENCE    OF  THE   WORK  OF  MAN   ON 

OBJECTS    FROM    QUATERNARY 

CAVES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

BY 

F.   W.    PUTNAM 


Reprinted  from  the  Amkrican  Anthropologist  (n.  s. ),  Vol.  8,  No.  2, 
April-June,  1906 


Lancaster,  Pa.,  (J.  S.  A. 
The  New  Era  Printing  Company 

1906 


SVJU  I  HERN  BRANCm, 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

LIBRARY, 

cos  ANGELES,  CALIF.  n 


sou  THE/-.,     .     /..,..• 

i'VlVERSlTY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

?ARY, 

r.LES.  CALIF. 

Ct   Mb 


RECENT  CAVE  EXPLORATION  IN  CALIFORNIA' 
By  JOHN  C.   MERRIAM 

Introduction 

During  the  last  three  years  a  series  of  investigations  has  been 
carried  on  by  the  Department  of  Anthropology  of  the  University 
of  California,  with  a  view  to  determining,  if  possible,  the  time  when 
man  first  appeared  in  this  region.  As  cavern  deposits  have  fur- 
nished some  of  the  most  important  materials  in  the  study  of  early 
man  in  other  regions,  it  was  considered  desirable,  as  one  of  the 
phases  of  this  work,  to  make  a  careful  paleontological  and  archeolog- 
ical  investigation  of  the  numerous  limestone  caves  of  the  state.  In 
this  study  the  effort  has  been  made  to  obtain  as  complete  a  knowledge 
as  possible  of  the  mammalian  faunas  which  have  existed  in  this  region 
between  early  Quaternary  time  and  the  present.  Man  is  considered 
as  a  possible  element  of  the  fauna,  and  so  far  as  his  geographic  or 
his  geologic  occurrence  is  concerned  he  must  be  subjected  to  investi- 
gations of  much  the  same  character  as  are  used  in  the  study  of  other 
organisms.  Until  the  facts  of  this  class  are  determined,  it  is  difiR- 
cult  to  make  a  beginning  on  matters  which  are  perhaps  more  defi- 
nitely anthropological. 

The  discovery  of  human  relics,  apparently  in  association  with 
remains  belonging  to  a  Quaternary  fauna,  in  the  extreme  southern 
portion  of  South  America  leads  one  to  suspect  that  an  early  migra- 
tion of  the  human  type  may  have  passed  over  North  America  into 


'  Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Anthropological  Association,  San  Francisco, 
August  30,  1905.  Including  a  partial  report  to  the  American  Committee  of  the  Archaeo- 
logical Institute  of  America  on  the  explorations  made  under  an  appropriation  by  the  com- 
mittee for  the  work  in  1905. 

AM.  ANTH.,  N.  S. ,  8-15  221 


222  AMERICAiV  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.  s.,  8,  1906 

South  America.  That  other  mammalian  types  came  into  America 
in  fairly  recent  geological  time  we  know,  and  there  is  no  inherent 
improbability  in  the  theory  that  man  came  with  the  other  mam- 
mals. If  his  remains  are  found  with  a  Quaternary  fauna  in  the 
southern  continent  there  is  good  reason  why  we  should  search 
for  them  here. 

Up  to  the  present  time  only  a  few  caves  situated  in  Calaveras 
county  and  in  Shasta  county  have  been  examined.  Many  other 
occurrences  are  known,  but  limitations  of  time  have  made  it  impos- 
sible to  visit  these  localities.  One  would  hardly  be  justified  in  stat- 
ing that  as  yet  more  than  a  beginning  has  been  made  on  the  pos- 
sible cave  investigations  of  California.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in 
time  these  studies,  in  connection  with  the  other  phases  of  this  work, 
may  give  us  some  definite  information  regarding  the  date  of  man's 
appearance  in  the  Pacific  Coast  region. 

Mercer's  Cave 
In  the  summer  of  1901  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam  and  the  writer 
examined  several  caves  in  the  vicinity  of  Murphys,  Calaveras  county, 
and  in  1902  Dr  W.  J.  Sinclair  visited  a  number  of  caverns  in  the 
same  region.  The  most  interesting  remains  encountered  were  those 
in  the  well-known  Mercer's  cave  near  Murphys.  In  this  cavern  there 
were  found  a  number  of  bones  of  an  extinct  ground-sloth,  which 
has  recently  been  described  by  Dr  Sinclair  as  the  type  of  a  new 
species,  Megalonyx  sierrcnsis}  The  bones  of  this  animal  were  cov- 
ered with  a  deposit  of  stalagmite,  ranging  from  a  few  millimeters  to 
about  half  an  inch  in  thickness.  From  their  situation  it  appeared 
that  the  body  of  the  animal  had  fallen  into  the  main  chute  of  the  cave, 
and  in  the  process  of  decay  the  remains  had  been  scattered  for  a 
considerable  distance  along  the  passageway.  In  the  same  cavern, 
although  not  in  close  proximity  to  the  Megalonyx  remains,  there 
were  found  a  number  of  human  bones  bearing  a  very  thin  calcareous 
incrustation.  It  appears  that  in  this  region  it  has  been  at  some 
time  the  custom  of  the  aborigines  to  throw  the  bodies  of  their  dead 
into  such  caverns  as  this,  and  in  places  great  numbers  of  skeletons 

'  Wm.  J.  Sinclair,  New  Mammalia  from  the  Quaternary  Caves  of  California,  Publ. 
Univ.  Calif.,  Geology,  vol.  4,  no.  7,  p.  155. 


MERRIAM]    RECENT  CAVE   EXPLORATION  IN  CALIFORNIA  223 

have  accumulated.  The  human  bones  found  in  this  cave  were  in 
such  position  as  to  indicate  that  they  had  been  thrown  into  the  first 
chamber  through  the  small  opening  above,  while  the  Megalonyx 
remains  had  fallen  some  distance  below  this  chamber.  While  it  is 
exceedingly  difficult  to  form  any  estimate  of  the  relative  ages  of  the 
human  bones  and  the  Megalonyx  remains,  such  evidence  as  we  have 
seems  to  indicate  that  the  remains  of  man  are  the  younger,  as  they 
are  nearer  the  opening  and  are  covered  with  a  much  thinner  layer 
of  stalagmitic  material.  The  human  bones  are,  however,  probably 
many  years  old.  While  the  relative  thickness  of  the  covering  of 
stalagmite  is  in  itself  no  absolute  criterion  as  to  the  age  of  the  en- 
closed material,  as  it  may  accumulate  very  rapidly  in  one  place  and 
very  slowly  in  another  place,  it  is  probable  that  the  thinner  layer  on 
the  human  bones  means  a  shorter  period  of  entombment. 

Potter  Creek  Cave 

The  most  extensive  investigations  of  the  caverns  have  been  car- 
ried on  in  Shasta  county.  In  this  region  two  large  caves  have  been 
very  carefully  explored  and  the  principal  deposits  almost  completely 
worked  over.  These  are  Potter  Creek  cave,  on  the  McCloud  river, 
near  Baird,  and  the  Samwel  cave,  on  the  same  river,  fifteen  miles 
above  Baird. 

Potter  Creek  cave  was  the  first  to  be  the  subject  of  careful  in- 
vestigation. It  was  discovered  in  1878  by  Mr  J.  A.  Richardson, 
and  by  him  several  specimens  of  fossil  bones  were  sent  to  Professor 
E.  D.  Cope.  In  the  summer  of  1902  Mr  E.  L.  Furlong  explored 
the  cave  again,  without  knowing  that  it  was  the  one  discovered  by 
Mr  Richardson.  Large  deposits  of  fossil  remains  were  found,  and 
excavation  work  was  carried  on  by  him  and  by  Dr  Sinclair  through 
that  season.  Throughout  the  whole  of  the  summer  of  1903  the 
work  was  in  charge  of  Dr  Sinclair,  whose  excellent  report '  on  this 
work  has  already  been  published.  The  floor  of  the  cave  was  care- 
fully surveyed  and  all  specimens  taken  out  were  labeled  with  refer- 
ence to  their  position  in  the  strata.  The  deposits  were  excavated  to 
a  depth  of  25   feet,  below  which  there  seemed  to  be  little  but  an 


^  Publ.  Univ.  Calif.,  North  Amer.  Archaeol.  and  Ethnol.,  vol.  2,  no.  i. 


224  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.  s.,  8,  1906 

accumulation  of  stalagmite-covered  bowlders.  The  exploration 
work  furnished  several  thousand  bones  and  fragments,  of  which 
between  4,000  and  5,000  were  determinable  specimens.  The  re- 
mains include  those  of  many  extinct  animals,  and  furnish  the  most 
satisfactory  representation  of  the  Quaternary  fauna  of  California  that 
has  yet  been  obtained  in  any  one  locality.  Fifty-two  species  were 
listed  by  Dr  Sinclair,  of  which  at  least  twent>'-one  were  found  to  be 
extinct. 

Associated  with  the  remains  of  the  Quaternary  fauna  in  Potter 
Creek  cave  there  were  many  broken,  splintered,  and  polished  bones, 
which  were  carefully  investigated  by  Dr  Sinclair,  having  been  con- 
sidered as  possibly  representing  the  work  of  man.  The  presence  of 
the  splintered  bones  is  yet  to  be  thoroughly  satisfactorily  explained, 
though  there  are  many  w^ays  in  which  they  might  have  been  formed 
or  introduced.  In  the  caves  of  Europe  such  splintered  bones  are 
in  part  due  to  the  splintering  of  long-bones  of  large  mammals  by 
man,  and  in  part  to  the  crushing  of  such  bones  by  the  larger  car- 
nivores. 

The  character  of  the  pointed  and  polished  bones  figured  by  Dr 
Sinclair  in  his  paper  is  also  difficult  to  determine  with  certainty. 
These  polished  fragments  strongly  resemble  many  of  the  roughest 
implements  found  in  the  deposits  of  the  shell-mounds  of  the  Pacific 
coast.  Possibly  they  have  been  rough  bone  splinters,  used  by  man 
until  they  attained  the  degree  of  polish  which  we  find  upon  them. 
On  the  other  hand  it  is  noted  that  in  nearly  all  shell-mound  frag- 
ments the  polish  is  mainly  upon  the  pointed  portion  of  the  imple- 
ment, while  fhe  portions  not  used  for  active  work  may  be  almost 
without  smoothing  or  polish.  In  the  specimens  from  the  caves  the 
polish  is  almost  perfectly  even  over  the  whole  surface  in  every  case. 
The  evenness  of  this  polish  seems  to  indicate  that,  if  these  objects 
were  used  as  implements,  special  pains  must  have  been  taken  to 
polish  those  portions  which  would  in  the  course  of  ordinary  use  be 
left  rough.  Such  smoothing  as  we  see  here  may  perhaps  be  as 
readily  explained  by  the  action  of  water  as  by  any  other  means, 
the  fragments  being  rubbed  on  all  sides  and  evenly  polished. 

In  other  bone  fragments,  peculiar  perforations  and  notches  have 
been  noted  which   are  not  easily  explained  by  the  operation  of 


MERRIAM]    RECENT  CAVE  EXPLORATION  IN  CALIFORNIA  22 S 

natural  processes,  but  which  could  be  accounted  for  by  perforation 
through  human  agency.  Of  all  the  evidence  which  has  been 
advanced  in  favor  of  the  influence  of  man  in  the  production  of 
implement-like  objects  found  in  the  Shasta  caves,  the  evidence  of 
perforation  seems  probably  the  strongest.  A  serious  doubt  must 
exist,  however,  as  to  whether  the  presence  of  only  a  few  somewhat 
indefinite  perforations  in  a  very  small  number  out  of  several  thousand 
of  these  fragments  should  be  considered  proof  of  the  presence  of 
man.  Had  a  large  percentage  of  the  fragments  been  formed  and 
used  by  man,  evidence  of  a  more  definite  character  ought  to  be 
present  in  abundance. 

While  it  is  probably  true  that  as  yet  no  unequivocal  evidence  of 
the  agency  of  man  in  the  fashioning  of  the  bone  fragments  from 
this  cave  has  been  presented,  in  all  fairness  to  those  who  may 
undertake  from  the  study  of  such  materials  to  give  .us  something 
of  the  earliest  history  of  the  human  race,  we  should  not  forget  that, 
at  the  very  period  where  the  discrimination  between  artifacts  and 
natural  objects  is  most  important  it  becomes  most  difficult.  In  the 
early  stages  of  the  development  of  man,  such  implements  as  were 
used  by  him  were  probably  in  many  cases  simply  special  forms  of 
natural  objects  which  were,  in  their  original  form,  well  adapted  to 
meet  his  primitive  needs.  The  earliest  true  artifacts  were  objects  of 
this  class  showing  only  a  little  modification. 

A  more  detailed  discussion  of  the  peculiarly  marked  bone 
fragments  from  the  California  caves  is  presented  by  Professor  F.  W. 
Putnam  in  a  paper  on  this  subject  appearing  also  in  this  number  of 
the  A7>ierican  Aiitliropologist. 

Samwel  Cave 

The  exploration  of  the  Samwel  cave,  in  the  Shasta  region,  has 
been  carried  on  by  Mr  E.  L.  Furlong  through  parts  of  the  seasons 
1903,  1904,  and  1905.'  This  cave  is  somewhat  larger  than  the  one 
at  Potter  creek  and  contains  several  chambers  of  considerable  size. 
The  largest  chamber  had  not  been  entered  previous  to  1903,  when 
it  was  explored  by  Mr  Furlong  and  the  writer. 

iThe  explorations  during  the  season  of  1905  were  carried  on  under  an  appropriation 
from  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America  for  the  '♦  Exploration  of  Caves  in  Northern 
California  under  the  supervision  of  F.  \V.  Putnam." 


226  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.  s.,  8,  1906 

Opening  into  one  of  the  passageways  about  100  feet  from  the 
entrance  is  a  fissure  containing  a  small  alluvial  fan,  which  opens 
out  on  the  floor  of  the  chamber.  This  deposit  appears  to  have 
accumulated  through  the  entrance  of  material  from  the  upper  part 
of  the  fissure.  The  entrance  is  now  closed  with  a  stalagmite  growth, 
and  no  clue  to  its  position  has  yet  been  obtained  from  the  study  of 
the  surface  of  the  rock  outside.  In  small  pockets  on  the  sides  of 
the  fissure,  and  in  the  deposit  below,  there  have  been  found  large 
numbers  of  bone  fragments  representing  a  Quaternary  fauna.  These 
include  remains  of  extinct  species '  of  Equus,  Elephas,  and  Ursus  ; 
also  remains  o(  Eucerathcriinu,-  a  recently  described  sheep- like  un- 
gulate found  in  these  caves,  and  bones  of  a  ground-sloth  somewhat 
similar  to  forms  found  in  the  caves  of  Brazil.^ 

The  largest  chamber  of  the  Samwel  cave  is  at  a  lower  level  than 
the  entrance  and  the  fissure  deposit.  It  was  entered  from  above 
through  a  long  chimney.  In  this  chamber  there  was  found  a 
large  deposit  of  fossil  remains,  including  numerous  extinct  species. 
Among  these  were  Eticei-atheriuvi,  Preptoceras  *  (another  new  sheep- 
like form),  and  a  ground-sloth.  It  seemed  improbable  that  the 
remains  in  this  lower  chamber  had  come  in  through  the  passage  by 
which  we  first  obtained  entrance,  and  a  careful  search  revealed  the 
presence  of  an  alluvial  fan  coming  in  from  one  side  of  the  cavern. 
Excavations  into  this  indicated  that  it  reached  out  toward  the  sur- 
face, and  during  the  last  season  a  passageway  was  cut  through  it  to 
an  outer  grotto  on  the  side  of  a  small  canon  near  by.  The  lower 
chamber  was  originally  reached  by  a  passageway  leading  from  a  large 
shelter  cave  now  represented  by  the  grotto.  A  part  of  the  roof  of 
the  original  shelter  has  broken  down,  and  is  represented  by  several 
large  blocks  which  have  fallen  from  the  cliff  above. 

In  the  Samwel  cave  numerous  splintered  and  polished  bone  frag- 
ments have  been  obtained,  and  the  problems  with  relation  to  man 
are  practically  the  same  as  those  of  Potter  Creek  cave.  In  addition 
to  these  objects,  there  was  found  in  the  chamber  near  the  fissure  de- 


^  See  E.  L.  Furlong  in  Science,  n.  s.,  vol.  20,  p.  53. 

*  Sinclair  and  Furlong,  Univ.  Calif.  Publ.,  Geology,  vol.  3,  no.  20. 

3  Sinclair,  New  Mammalia,  op.  cit.,  p.  153. 

*E.  L.  Furlong,   Univ.  Calif.   Ptibl.,  Geology,  vol.  4,  no.  8. 


MERRiAM]    RECENT  CAVE   EXPLORATION  IN  CALIEORNIA  22/ 

posit,  a  chipped  fragment  of  basaltic  lava,  which  appeared  to  have 
come  from  a  point  six  inches  below  the  surface  of  the  stalagmite. 
Also  in  the  excavation  of  the  outer  grotto  of  the  largest  chamber, 
a  chipped  obsidian  fragment  was  brought  up  in  the  bucket  from  a 
depth  of  eleven  feet,  at  which  level  bones  resembling  those  of  an 
extinct  species  have  been  obtained.  In  neither  case,  however,  was 
the  chipped  fragment  actually  seen  in  place,  and  both  must  be  set 
aside,  for  the  present,  as  merely  suggesting  the  presence  of  man. 

Stone  Man  Cave 
A  third  cavern  in  the  Shasta  region,  which  has  been  partly 
explored,  is  the  Stone  Man  cave  about  one  mile  northeast  of  Baird. 
It  was  visited  by  Mr  Furlong  and  the  writer  in  1903.  In  one 
of  the  uppermost  chambers  a  number  of  bone  fragments  were 
found  in  the  stalagmite.  These  were,  however,  too  imperfect  for 
specific  determination,  and  the  age  of  the  deposit  has  not  been 
determined.  In  one  of  the  lower  galleries,  a  portion  of  a  human 
skeleton  was  found  imbedded  in  the  stalagmite.  The  greater  num- 
ber of  the  bones  had  been  removed  before  our  visit,  but  enough  was 
left  to  show  that  a  considerable  fraction  of  an  inch  of  stalagmite  has 
accumulated  on  the  skeleton.  Mr  J.  A.  Richardson  kindly  gave  us 
a  vertebra  which  he  obtained  here  when  the  cave  was  first  explored. 
It  seems  to  have  lost  practically  all  of  the  organic  matter,  and  the 
cavities  in  the  bone  are  largely  filled  with  calcite  cr>'stals.  In  this 
cave  there  is  unfortunately  nothing  to  fix  the  age  of  the  skeleton 
definitely.  It  might  easily  be  many  centuries  old,  or  might  have 
come  to  its  present  location  at  a  comparatively  recent  date,  though 
evidence  rather  favors  a  considerable  antiquity. 

Age  of  the  Cave  Deposits 
The  faunas  of  both  the  Potter  Creek  and  the  Samwel  cave  indicate 
Quaternary  age.  As  far  as  is  now  known,  the  fauna  of  Samwel 
cave  contains  the  larger  percentage  of  recent  species  and  is  proba- 
bly the  younger.  In  addition  to  this  evidence,  the  situation  of  the 
two  caverns  gives  considerable  information  regarding  their  relative 
ages.  Potter  Creek  cave  is  situated  at  a  height  of  800  feet  above 
the  level  of  McCloud  river,  and  just  below  an  ancient  terrace  level 


228  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.  s.,  8,  1906 

of  the  river.  The  Samwel  cave  is  situated  just  below  a  terrace  350 
feet  above  the  McCloud.  The  lowest  chamber  of  this  cave  opens  at 
a  point  not  more  than  200  feet  above  the  river.  Both  caverns  were 
evidently  formed  at  a  time  when  McCloud  river  was  near  the  level  of 
the  terraces  above  them.  Both  received  their  principal  deposits  when 
the  river  was  a  short  distance  below  them,  and  it  is  evident  that  the 
time  which  has  elapsed  since  the  formation  of  the  deposits  in  Potter 
Creek  cave  is  much  greater  than  that  since  the  formation  of  similar 
beds  in  the  Samwel  cave.  The  evidence  of  physiography  appar- 
ently corroborates  that  obtained  from  the  study  of  the  fauna. 

The  fauna  of  Potter  Creek  cave  is  considered  by  Dr  Sinclair  to 
represent  the  middle  or  later  Quaternary.  The  fauna  of  Samwel 
cave  is  certainly  Quaternary,  but  is  evidently  later  than  that  of 
Potter  Creek.  The  age  of  Potter  Creek  cave  is,  according  to  com- 
monly accepted  correlations,  not  far  from  that  of  the  earliest  deposits 
containing  human  remains  in  Europe.  Though  a  reasonable  doubt 
might  arise  as  to  whether  man  could  have  reached  America  as  early 
as  the  date  of  the  Potter  Creek  deposits,  the  age  of  Samwel  cave 
appears  to  be  within  the  period  of  man's  existence  in  the  old  world. 

From  the  evidence  at  hand  it  seems  that  both  Mercer's  cave 
and  Stone  Man  cave  were  in  existence  in  Quaternary  time,  and 
in  all  probability  some  of  the  deposits  in  both  caverns  were  formed 
in  that  period. 

University  of  California, 
Berkeley. 


EVIDENCE   OF    THE   WORK    OF    MAN    ON    OBJECTS 
FROM    QUATERNARY  CAVES   IN    CALIFORNIA^ 

By  F.  W.   PUTNAM 

In  the  investigations  of  the  Quaternary  caves  of  California  which 
have  been  carried  on  by  the  Department  of  Anthropology  of  the 
University  of  California  during  the  last  few  years,  there  have  been 
discovered  a  considerable  number  of  bone  and  several  stone  frag- 
ments apparently  indicating  the  work  of  man.  If  these  specimens 
are  actually  the  evidence  of  man's  work,  it  is  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance to  have  the  facts  brought  out,  as  the  objects  in  question  have 
been  found  associated  with  a  fauna  which  represents  an  epoch  con- 
siderably antedating  the  end  of  the  Quaternary  period,  and  would 
indicate  human  occupancy  of  this  portion  of  the  continent  at  a  very 
remote  period.^ 

The  specimens  that  seem  to  exhibit  evidence  of  human  handi- 
work of  the  Quaternary  period  include  a  number  of  polished  and 
pointed  bone  fragments  in  most  respects  similar  to  the  rougher 
instruments  from  the  shell-mounds,  and  several  other  fragments 
with  perforations  of  such  a  character  that  it  seems  impossible  to 
explain  their  presence  excepting  by  the  agency  of  man.  With 
these  more  definite  evidences  of  man's  presence  there  are  found  in 
the  same  strata  large  numbers  of  splintered  bones,  such  as  else- 
where form  a  considerable  part  of  the  deposits  in  caves  or  in  shell- 
mounds  that  have  served  as  places  of  human  habitation  in  prehis- 
toric time. 

Another  class  of  objects  from  the  caves,  which  must  be  consid- 
ered in  connection  with  the  bone  specimens,  consists  of  stone  frag- 
ments exhibiting  the  undoubted  work  of  man  and  showing  some 
evidence  of  having  been  buried  in  strata  containing  the  remains  of 
extinct  animals. 


1  Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Anthropological  Association,  San  Francisco, 
August  29,  1905. 

2  For  a  description  of  these  caves  and  a  discussion  of  their  geological  age,  sec  the 
preceding  paper  by  Dr  J.  C.  Merriam. 

229 


230  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.  s.,  8,  1906 

Of  the  first  class  of  objects  three  are  figured  by  Dr  Sinclair  in 
his  paper  on  the  exploration  of  Potter  Creek  cave.'  Two  figures 
of  one  of  these  bones  are  reproduced  here  (pi.  xvii,  figs,  i,  2). 
This  specimen  (no.  3894)  exhibits  quite  remarkable  oblique  beveled 
edges.  The  inner  side  of  the  specimen  shows  this  very  clearly, 
while  the  sharp  edge  produced  is  shown  in  the  outer  view.  It  is 
difficult  to  understand  how,  by  any  natural  process,  beveling  and 
smoothing  of  this  character  could  have  been  produced,  working 
from  two  edges  to  a  terminal  point.  Moreover,  the  bevehng  ex- 
tends from  the  softer  inner  portion  of  the  bone  to  the  denser  outer 
layers,  producing  the  sharp  edge  where  it  is  most  useful.  At  the 
end  opposite  to  the  beveled  portion  of  this  specimen  is  a  distinct 
notch,  quite  different  from  the  ordinary  reentrant  angles  in  flaked 
or  broken  bone.  Its  appearance  on  the  same  fragment  with  the 
extraordinary  bevel-edge  point,  giving  evidence  of  the  action  of 
two  quite  different  influences  on  the  bone,  makes  both  the  beveled 
end  and  the  notch  appear  all  the  more  remarkable.^ 

Of  the  fragments  showing  perforations  there  are  two  that  have 
been  made  the  subject  of  special  study.  The  first  of  these,  no. 
3959  (pi.  XV,  figs.  1-4;  pi.  XVI,  figs.  3,  4),  is  a  thick  fragment  of 
bone  showing  several  notches  or  perforations  that  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  formed  in  any  natural  way.  It  was  found  by  Mr  Sin- 
clair between  70  and  80  inches  below  the  surface  in  section  7  of  the 
deposits  in  Potter  Creek  cave.  Possible  explanations  of  the  occur- 
rence of  the  foramina  in  this  specimen  are  that  they  are  natural ; 
that  they  have  been  formed  by  the  gnawing  of  rodents  or  the  bor- 
ing of  insects  ;  or  that  they  have  been  produced  by  heavy,  angular 
bodies  falling  upon  them,  the  rough  edges  afterward  being  smoothed 
by  water  action.  In  order  to  test  these  suggestions  as  carefully  as 
possible,  every  effort  has  been  made  to  determine  the  particular  bone 


1  Univeisity  of  California  Publications,  American  Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  vol. 
2,  no.  I. 

2 The  plate  in  Mr  Sinclair's  paper  contains  for  comparison  the  figures  of  two  un- 
questionable bone  implements  from  the  ancient  shell-heap  at  Emeryville,  and  any  one 
familiar  with  the  pointed  and  cutting  implements  made  of  splinters  of  bone,  which  are 
so  abundant  in  shell-heaps  and  other  accumulations  of  human  debris,  will  readily  accept 
these  pointed  and  perforated  bone  splinters  from  the  caves  as  implements  of  the  same 
character. 


AMERICAN    ANTHROPOLOGIST 


N.   S.,  VOL.  8,  PL.  XV 


BONE  FRAGMENT  FROM   POTTER  CREEK  CAVE 
(Department  of  Anthropology .  University  of  California.  No.  3950.     Natural  size) 

I,  Outer  surface,  showing  semicircular  notch  near  the  pointed  end.  2,  Outer  surface,  left  side, 
showing  circular  perforation  and  probable  cutting  at  ends.  3,  4,  Inner  surface.  (In  fiKurc  4  the 
bristle  passes  through  the  small  hole  at  the  edge  of  the  bone.) 


PUTNAM]  QUATERNARY  MAN  IN  CALIFORNIA  23 1 

or  part  of  bone  which  this  fragment  represents.  After  having 
passed  through  the  hands  of  Mr  Sinclair,  who  did  not  reach  a  defin- 
ite conclusion  as  to  its  character,  the  specimen  was  examined  by  a 
number  of  eminent  comparative  anatomists,  including  Dr  G.  H. 
Parker,  Dr  W.  D.  Mathews,  Mr  J.  W.  Gidley,  Mr  F.  A.  Lucas,  Dr 
A.  Hrdlicka,  and  Dr  F.  W.  True,  all  of  whom  agree  that  the  per- 
forations are  not  natural.  Messrs  Mathews  and  Gidley  have  kindly 
expressed  their  opinion  in  the  following  statement : 

**  Specimen  (no.  3959)  from  Pleistocene  cave  deposit  of  Potter  creek, 
California,  submitted  for  examination  by  Professor  Putnam. 

"  The  specimen  is  a  fragment  of  a  shaft  of  a  limb-bone  of  some  mam- 
mal. It  is  too  much  worn  and  uncharacteristic  for  positive  identification, 
but  appears  to  be  part  of  the  humerus  of  a  ruminant,  probably  from  the 
external  side  near  the  distal  end  of  the  shaft,  and  compares  most  nearly 
with  Ovibos.  It  is  pierced  by  a  complete  circular  hole  and  deeply  notched 
by  a  much  larger  oval  hole  of  which  the  outer  side  is  broken  away.  These 
are  not  like  the  natural  foramina  of  bones  in  the  appearance  of  their 
edges,  nor  is  there  any  possible  identification  of  the  fragment  in  question 
which  would  give  them  the  position  and  size  of  naturally  occurring  for- 
amina. 

"  They  are  not  the  work  of  water  acting  by  solution,  as  shown  by  the 
uniform  diameter  and  regularly  circular  form  of  the  smaller  one,  and  the 
beveled,  not  rounded,  edges  of  the  larger  one. 

"  They  are  not  the  work  of  insects  or  of  boring  molluscs,  as  is  proved 
by  the  slight  beveling  of  the  external  and  rounding  of  the  internal  mar- 
gin of  the  smaller  hole,  and  by  the  strong  and  irregular  beveling  of  the 
larger  one,  as  well  as  by  other  features  of  position,  direction,  etc. 

"They  are  not  the  work  of  rodents  :  this  explanation  is  out  of  the 
question  for  the  smaller  hole,  and  must  be  rejected  for  the  larger  one  from 
the  absence  of  any  marks  of  gnawing  teeth  around  the  margin  of  the  hole, 
its  form,  the  thickness  of  the  bone  at  the  part  pierced,  and  other  consid- 
erations. Parts  of  the  edges  of  the  fragment  bear  the  marks  of  gnawing 
teeth  very  clearly  defined ;  this  gnawing  must  have  occurred  after  the 
fragment  was  broken  to  its  present  form,  while  the  larger  hole  was  made 
when  it  was  more  complete  than  it  now  is. 

"These  holes  could  not  have  been  punctured  by  the  teeth  of  carniv- 
ora,  the  beveling  of  the  edges  of  the  larger  hole,  and  the  small  size  and 
uniform  diameter  of  the  smaller  one  forbidding  it. 

"  The  only  alternative  of  which  we  can  conceive,  and  in  our  view  the 


232  AMERICAy  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.  s.,  8,  1906 

only  possible  explanation  of  these  holes  is  that  they  are  the  work  of  man . 
The  end  of  the  fragment  has  also  tv\-o  or  more  slight  notches,  the  margin 
of  which  is  like  that  of  the  incomplete  hole  mentioned.  These  also  are 
probably  of  artificial  origin  and  can  hardly  be  explained  by  natural  splin- 
tering of  the  bone,  or  as  the  work  of  carnivora  or  rodents. 

"  We  therefore  endorse  without  question  Professor   Putnam's   view 
that  this  bone  certainly  shows  the  handiwork  of  man,  and  we  take  pleas- 
ure in  expressing  our  acknowledgments  for  the  privilege  of  examining  it. 
[Signed]  "  W.  D.  M\tthew,  J.  W.  Gidlev. 

"  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
February  second,  igoj. ' ' 

As  the  musk-ox  is  unknown  in  the  Shasta  cave  fauna  it  is  not 
probable  that  this  specimen  represents  a  bone  of  one  of  these 
animals.  There  were,  however,  in  these  caves  abundant  remains 
of  the  new  genus  Eiiceraiheriujii,  a.  large  sheep-like  animal  related 
to  the  musk-ox  and  possessing  bones  quite  similar  in  form  and 
size.  Eiice7'atJicnni)i  was  one  of  the  more  common  ungulates  at  the 
period  when  the  cave  deposit  was  forming  and  would  have  served 
as  one  of  the  principal  food  supplies  for  early  man  if  he  were  living  in 
this  region  at  the  time.  The  form  of  this  fragment  agrees  as  closely 
with  that  of  the  distal  end  of  the  humerus  of  Eucerathcrhim  as  it 
does  with  that  of  Ovibos,  and  there  is  good  reason  for  believing  that 
it  represents  that  bone.  In  the  humerus  oi  Euceratheriiivi  the  fora- 
mina are  similar  to  those  in  Ovibos,  and  there  are  no  natural  openings 
that  correspond  to  the  perforations  seen  here. 

The  smaller  completely  enclosed  perforation  in  the  specimen 
(pi.  XV,  figs.  2,  3,  4;  pi.  XVI,  fig.  4)  is  almost  circular  in  outline, 
is  nearly  normal  to  the  surface  of  the  bone,  and  is  slightly  beveled 
on  the  margins.  The  cutting  of  the  hole  and  the  beveling  are  not 
accompanied  by  much  cutting  of  the  natural  canals  of  the  bone, 
but  the  form  and  direction  of  the  holes  are  not  comparable  with 
those  of  ordinary  natural  foramina. 

Close  to  the  smaller  perforation  is  an  exceedingly  small  open- 
ing, about  half  a  millimeter  in  diameter,  indicated  in  the  illustra- 
tions (pi.  XV,  fig.  4 ;  pi.  XVI,  fig.  4)  by  a  bristle.  It  may  represent 
a  natural  foramen  or  it  may  be  artificial  ;  it  is  difificult  to  determine 
its  true  nature. 


AMERICAN    ANTHROPOLOGIST 


N.      8.,   VOL.   e,   PL.   XVI 


BONE   FRAGMENTS  FROM   POTTER  CREEK  CAVE 
(Department  of  Antliropology,  University  of  California.      Natural  size) 

I,  Inner  side  of  splintered  fragment  (in  the  upper  end  there  is  a  nearly  circular  perforation):  No.  3756. 
2,  Outer  side  of  the  same  fragment.  3,  .\nother  view  of  specimen  3959,  shown  in  Plate  xv.  4,  Inner  view  of 
the  same. 


PUTNAM]  QUATERNARY  MAN  IX  CALIFORNIA  233 

The  second  specimen,  no.  3756  (pi.  xvi,  figs,  i,  2),  represents 
a  large  fragment  splintered  from  a  heavy  limb  bone.  It  was  ob- 
tained 40-50  inches  below  the  surface  in  section  6  of  the  Potter 
Creek  cave.  One  end  is  pointed  and  somewhat  beveled  by  splint- 
ering, the  other  is  slightly  worn  and  has  been  much  gnawed  by 
rodents.  In  the  rough  end  of  the  fragment  is  a  nearly  circular 
hole,  about  3  mm.  in  diameter,  cutting  the  bone  along  a  line  nearly 
normal  to  its  outer  surface.  The  hole  is  quite  sharply  cut,  and  the 
edges,  both  at  the  outer  and  the  inner  ends  of  the  aperture  are  very 
little  worn.  Viewed  from  the  inner  side  by  means  of  a  hand  lens 
one  can  see  that  the  coarser  canals  of  the  bone  are  distinctly  cut 
across  by  this  perforation.  Although  I  am  not  able  to  determine 
with  certainty  the  bone  from  which  this  fragment  came,  it  is  prob- 
ably a  splinter  of  a  leg  bone  of  one  of  the  large  ungulates.  The 
opening  appears  quite  different  from  a  natural  foramen,  as  the  edges 
are  sharp  and  the  canals  of  the  bone  are  crossed  in  an  unnatural 
manner.  The  course  of  the  opening,  moreover,  is  transverse  to 
the  axis  of  the  bone,  whereas  most  foramina  in  bones  of  this  char- 
acter enter  at  an  angle  of  less  than  90  degrees. 

It  should  be  noted  in  connection  with  the  study  of  this  speci- 
men that  the  end  in  which  the  perforation  occurs  is  somewhat  worn 
and  that  the  opposite  end  is  splintered  in  such  a  way  as  to  form  a 
natural  bevel  on  both  sides,  coming  to  a  point  somewhat  as  in 
specimen  no.  3894  described  above.  While  I  do  not  wish  to  assert 
positively  that  this  opening  was  made  by  the  hand  of  man,  I  cannot 
conceive  of  any  natural  way  in  which  such  a  perforation  could  be 
produced,  and  certainly  the  present  evidence  points  to  man  as  the 
active  agent  in  its  production. 

The  polished  and  perforated  specimens  mentioned  above  are 
found  in  association  with  a  large  number  of  splintered  bone  frag- 
ments derived  largely  from  the  breaking  up  of  long-bones  of  large 
ungulates.  Of  these  there  are  many  hundreds  of  specimens  occur- 
ring in  nearly  all  layers  of  the  deposits.  On  only  a  few  of  the 
splinters  are  there  marks  such  as  would  be  made  by  the  teeth  of 
carnivora  in  crushing  the  bones.  In  the  absence  of  definite  evidence 
of  the  fracture  of  these  bones  by  large  carnivora,  one  is  forced  to 
suspect  that  man  has  been  the  active  agent  here  as  in  the  shell- 


234  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.  s.,  8,  1906 

mounds,  where  the  numerous  fractured  and  spHntered  bones  are 
unanimously  attributed  to  the  work  of  man. 

Of  the  stone  fragments  mentioned  above  as  occurring  in  these 
cave  deposits,  two  were  found  in  Samwel  cave.  In  these  two  speci- 
mens there  is  no  doubt  of  the  handiwork  of  man.  The  first  speci- 
men, no.  1 00 1 2  (pi.  XVII,  figs.  5,  6),  was  obtained  by  Mr  E.  L. 
Furlong,  in  1904,  in  the  fissure  deposit  of  the  upper  chamber  of 
Samwel  cave.  It  was  found  six  inches  beneath  the  loosened  sta- 
lagmite layer  after  a  blast  to  break  up  the  dense  rock.  The  speci- 
men is  a  distinctly  chipped  basalt  fragment.  It  seemed  to  belong 
to  the  loosened  earth  in  which  it  was  found.  Its  surface  is  par- 
tially covered  with  a  thin  calcareous  coating.  In  and  on  the  stalag- 
mite above  it  numerous  remains  of  extinct  animals  were  obtained. 

The  second  specimen,^  no.  looii  (pi.  xvii,  figs.  3,  4),  is  a  dis- 
tinctly chipped  obsidian  flake  obtained  from  a  shaft  sunk  into  the 
deposits  filling  the  old  entrance  of  the  large  lower  chamber  of  Sam- 
wel cave.  This  specimen  was  not  seen  in  place,  but  was  brought 
up  in  a  bucket  filled  with  moist  earth  from  the  bottom  of  the  shaft, 
then  eleven  feet  deep.  The  earth  around  the  mouth  of  the  shaft 
was  quite  dry,  and  if  the  fragment  did  not  come  from  the  layers 
below,  it  must  have  fallen  into  the  shaft  in  the  course  of  the  work- 
ings and  have  been  buried  in  the  moist  earth  below.  The  surface 
of  the  specimen  was  partly  covered  with  a  thin  calcareous  incru.sta- 
tion.  The  layer  exposed  at  the  bottom  of  the  pit  at  this  time 
underlies  strata  containing  remains  of  an  extinct  ground-sloth. 

While  we  cannot  state  definitely  that  either  of  the  stone  frag- 
ments actually  occurred  in  the  Quaternary  deposits,  there  is  at 
least  strong  presumptive  evidence  in  favor  of  their  having  been 
derived  from  these  beds,  and  that  they  were  the  work  of  men  ex- 
isting in  this  region  before  the  Quaternary  fauna  became  extinct. 

In  concluding  this  brief  statement  relating  to  the  supposed  evi- 
dence of  man's  handiwork  in  the  Shasta  caves,  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  two  perforated  bones  here  illustrated  are  sufficiently  important 
to  warrant  the  belief  that  man  inhabited  the  vicinity  of  the  caves  at 
least  as  early  as  the  latter  half  of  the  Quaternaiy  period.     At  all 

'This  specimen  was  obtained  in  the  summer  of  1905,  during  the  progress  of  the 
work  carried  on  under  an  appropriation  by  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America. 


AMERICAN    ANTHROPOLOGIST 


N.   8.,  VOL.   8.    PL.   Xvll 


BONE  AND  STONE   FRAGMENTS  FROM   POTTER  CREEK  AND  SAMWEL  CAVES 

(Department  of  Anthropology,  University  of  C  alifornia.     Natural  size) 

I,  Inner  side  of  polished  bone  fragment  from   Potter  Creek  cave  (No.  3894).     The  upper  end  is  beveled  at 

both  edges.     A  shallow  notch  is  seen  at  the  lower  end.     2,  Outer  side  of  the  same.     3,  4,  Opposite  sides  of  a 

chipped  obsidian  flake  from  Samwel  cave  1  No.  looii).     5,  6,  Opposite  sides  of  a  chipped  basalt  fragment  from 

Samwtl  cave  (No    10012) 


PUTNAM]  QUATERNARY  OF  MAN  IN  CALIFORNIA  235 

events,  until  it  is  proved  that  the  peiforations  and  the  beveHng  of 
the  points  on  some  of  these  bone  splinters  were  made  without 
man's  agency,  archeologists  will,  I  think,  accept  the  specimens  here 
described  as  primitive  forms  of  bone  implements. 

The  fact  that  only  a  few  pointed  bones  with  perforations  were 
found  is  in  conformity  with  our  experience  in  the  explorations  of 
shell-heaps  and  village  sites,  wliere  hundreds  of  simple  pointed 
implements  made  from  splinters  of  bone  have  been  found,  but 
seldom  one  with  a  perforation. 

The  very  large  number  of  splinters  of  long-bones  of  various 
mammals,  found  in  the  caves,  is  of  importance  in  this  investiga- 
tion, since  they  are  of  the  same  character  as  splinters  of  marrow- 
bones that  are  found  on  so  many  ancient  sites  of  man's  occupancy. 
The  very  small  number  of  splinters  showing  marks  of  the  teeth  of 
carnivora,  and  the  difficulty  of  accounting  for  such  large  numbers 
of  bone  splinters  otherwise  than  by  man's  agency,  should  also  be 
given  due  consideration. 

The  exploration  of  other  caves  in  this  vicinity  will  probably 
bring  to  light  much  of  importance  in  relation  to  early  man  in  Cali- 
fornia. It  is  with  pleasure  that  I  acknowledge  my  great  indebted- 
ness to  Dr  J.  C.  Merriam  for  his  hearty  cooperation  in  these  ex- 
plorations, in  which  his  knowledge  of  geology  and  paleontology  has 
been  of  the  first  importance,  as  shown  by  his  exceedingly  conserva- 
tive paper  on  this  subject,  in  which  he  gives  a  general  review  of 
the  researches  that  have  thus  far  been  carried  on  by  the  University 
of  California. 

Department  of  Anthropology, 

University  of  California,  Berkeley. 


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